The Life and Lies Of Seraphina Picquery
by SpicyHumanoidSauce
Summary: I watched this movie, and I really enjoyed the character of Serpahina Picquery- for those of you that don't LIVE on Pottermore, that's the feminist president of MACUSA and resident badass- and decided to write this to do her backstory justice. It's about young Seraphina at her wizarding school (more on that inside), and the friends she made. Thanks!
1. In Which Seraphina Meets A Cat and A Boy

**This story is about young Seraphina back when she was actually attending her wizarding school. And YES, I KNOW she didn't go to Hogwarts, but I know a lot about it so it's just easier. So, the name of the school and location and attributes are mostly those of Hogwarts, but everything else is totally Ilvermorny. The schools and houses are all screwed up, but just... work with me. This is the longest things I've ever written, and I need to break all the rules to squeeze the potential out of it. That okay? Cool.**

\- In Which Seraphina Meets A Cat And A Boy

Seraphina Picquery drew in a sharp breath, inhaling the smoky scent of platform 9 3/4. Her teeth tugged at her lip, and her trembling hand tugged the suitcase along behind her with a rickety click-clack. Despite the eleven-year-old's best effort, her nerves were showing through.

She felt Percy clap her shoulder and whisper, "Are you excited, Feenie?" She was, but she'd prefer expulsion over him knowing.

"Don't call me that. I'm fine." She replied coolly. Hands raced over every wrinkle on her sleek black dress. This was the day she had awaited her entire life.

The hidden train was everything she had imagined: a winding, glimmering scarlet engine that poured steam from a pipe on the roof and had the Hogwarts seal painted tastefully on the front. Jet black wheels, that she had just seen eat up the tracks. It was majestic, and the rosy-cheeked first-years that milled about in the aisle seemed to know it.

The platform itself, however, had her father in quite a huff.

"Dad, are you alright?" Seraphina asked tentatively, eyeing Henry Picquery's arched eyebrows and lopsided moustache. It wasn't a good sign that he cleaned off his monocle before answering; "I'm fine darling, just expected something... cleaner." Indeed his preferences were justified.

The platform was a dull gray stone, with the occasional crimson pillar that held up a cavernous red roof and a few cobwebs spreading from corner to floor. More than once, Mr. Picquery would look down to see his black leather shoes dusted in a fine layer of dirt. No one else cared, but the muggles wearing business suits in the midst of the chaos seemed put off.

Seraphina already loved it. Cats wove between her legs, their tails trailing behind them like thick ribbons, and her taller brother had to swat one away from his box of Bertie Bot's Beans. "Percival!" Their mother scolded.

The toffee-skinned girl felt her legs quiver with hidden excitement for this day, this day that foretold mystery and magic and excitement. Of course, ever since Percy had gotten his letter by owl, he had romanticized the place- but why shouldn't she believe him? It was Hogwarts, the most prestigious school for witchcraft and wizardry in the world.

"Oh, that's me I suppose." She said, upon hearing a dry voice summoning first-years to car four. "Bye Mom, bye Dad." Each farewell was met with a kiss to her cheek and a tight smile. Her mother snuck a chocolate frog into her owl's cage for good measure. The voice echoed through platform 9 3/4 a second time.

In these scenarios, she was glad to have Percy to wrap her in a bear-hug and say, "You're the best I've ever seen, Feenie. You'll do great." For a minute, his words were like a candle in a dark window and she let a grin flit over her face.

But then Percy was gone, off to find his fourth-year friends in car three. And Seraphina was all alone with her restless snowy owl, Thief, and an overstuffed bag. The slender girl, feeling like this should be a bigger deal than it was to her family, looked around helplessly for a familiar face; but everyone was lost in the rush of late boarding. A sigh pulled itself from her throat.

She breathed in the scent of new beginnings and wrestled herself onto the train.

Once inside, Seraphina looked around for a place to sit. Percy said that whoever you sat with, you would be friends with, at least long enough to make real ones. But she was soon distracted.

"Whoa..." she allowed herself to whisper. Because for the first time ever, she saw people like her: girls with vibrantly colorful hair and elegant wands, boys wearing turbans trying to conjure flames, and a good mix of utterly normal children as well. Sparks of magic seared spots in the floor, but they only disappeared like fading ink.

Was this how Percy felt when he first boarded the train years ago? She would have to ask him.

The seats were a plush red leather with gold poles joining them to the floor. They were every bit as regal as she had pictured. Some were littered with candy wrappers and jewelry while others held nothing but textbooks. The young witch looked down at her own swollen suitcase, the one they had let her take on the train because it contained her robes and food, and winced.

"Hey," when a hand clasped her shoulder, she whipped around to find a smiley, pale girl with thick blond hair and a snobbish smile. "So, me and some other first-years are having a magic competition, and we want a bunch of people to be there." Her voice was a liltingly Cockney accent, cold enough to make Seraphina keep her tone in check. "Excuse me?"

The other girl sighed, and inhaled deeply. "Sorry. I'm Lacey. Several first-years are going to have a magic competition, you know, to see who's the best. We want lots of others there, so I was wondering if you'd come." Seraphina blinked.

"Why me?" She asked, lifting her nose.

"You just look like you would be good. You know, you have the dyed hair and the wrap and the wand, and you look experienced. Anyway, I'll swing by your seat to remind you later. Where are you sitting?"

A doe-eyed Seraphina rolled her eyes and decided to get two key facts straight. "My hair isn't dyed. It just grows like this." She smoothed her index fingers over the two perfect platinum blonde curls that lay on her cheeks, the only thing one could see of her hair, below the black scarf she always wrapped around her head. "And I wear the head wrap because it keeps everything out of my face."

The hair was one of the first things that alerted her muggle family that she might be different. Her skin was the same light olive as her mother's, but her hair was so pale it was almost white.

Clearly, Lacey didn't care whatsoever. "Yeah, okay. Where are you sitting, though?" Her face was scrunched up, as if she'd eaten something sour. The blond girl wore a pretty navy dress, with a huge white bow dangling off the rump, and the other focused on it while she listened to the question.

Seraphina shook her head slightly as she realized that she didn't know where she was sitting. "Uh..." her mind went blank.

"Here!" She exclaimed, sweeping over to an empty seat and dropping her bag on the floor. This was the only way she was ever going to shake this girl. "I'm sitting here."

The seat next to it was filled with books. Piled as high as the chair, Seraphina half worried they would topple over once the train started moving, and had to shift every minute because a corner was jabbing her ribs. But sitting next to dusty tomes such as "A History of Magic" and "Basic Counterspells for A Magic Student" made her feel entirely at home. She could only hope that the inhabitant of this seat had studied them as much as she.

"Oh." Lacey frowned, clearly disappointed that her unwilling conversationalist had already found a seat. "Well, I'll come get you when it starts."

"Alright," Seraphina scowled, turning her nose up. Lacey rolled pale blue eyes and scuttled away to the end of the car. The dark-eyed witch smiled.

This would have been good news, if her departure was not followed by a mournful "Meow!" that seemed to come from the young witch's suitcase. The bag started to move beneath her hands. Seraphina's gaze flew to the struggle of the zipper. "What the-" Seraphina started, but ended up emitting a small shriek as a cat leapt out of her bag. "Whoa!" Hands flew in front of her face to guard from uncut claws and thick white teeth.

The slender black cat curled up on her leg, peering up through midnight-dark eyes. Long whiskers tickled her through her tights, and she saw that its muzzle was covered in the remnants of a Whizzing Nortflusker Candy. "Hey," she scolded, "That's mine you awful cat!" The feline merely purred.

"Alright, whose cat is this?" Seraphina called helplessly to the train residents.

The black cat emitted a Cheshire grin at the lack of response. It had no collar, and not even a dent in the fur around its neck (like the family cat, Cheddar, had when he slipped out of his tag). She assumed it had a careless owner- but what of its well-groomed ebony fur and trimmed nails?

The prim witch gazed down at it. It was a handsome cat, with eyes so brown they were nearly black and silvery whiskers. Seraphina scoffed in disgust and pushed the feline stowaway off her lap. "Seriously, who is missing a cat?"

No one answered except for a broad voice that popped up right next to her. "Not mine."

Pressing purple-painted hand to fast-beating heart, Seraphina pivoted to find a boy sitting in the seat next to her. How he'd managed to slide through the maze of literature, she would never know, but he did look the bookish type. Round, coke-bottle glasses. Unruly, jet-black hair, that seemed to have lost a previous battle with a comb. A scarf with the Hogwarts crest emblazoned upon it, wrapped around his neck like a serpent.

"Oh." She snapped out of her improper trance, and extended a hand. "Sorry. Seraphina Picquery, pleased to meet you... do you sit here?"

The boy, who she had decided almost instantly was a friend, gave her a small smile. Oh! He had teeth so white she swore she'd go blind, and a smile to rival that of her own shy, pearly grin. She also noticed that he shifted from side to side when he spoke- a bad habit. "Yeah, I mean, yes. I'm Winston Maribell, first-year." Seraphina beamed down at him (for she was quite a bit taller), and he consideringly added, "and I like your hair."

She blushed.

"Thank you. This is all pretty exciting, right?" Her words were more juvenile than expected. "I mean, my family could care less about Hogwarts, but look at all this!"

Winston grinned. "Yeah. I've got two brothers, and Harrison is always boasting about how he took to the place like a fish to water. Liar." It wasn't very funny, but Seraphina forced out a chuckle so he would feel better. Hopefully Winston wouldn't be one of the idiots Percy was gabbing about constantly.

"I only have one brother, Percy. He's a fourth-year." With a fond smile, Seraphina recalled her brown-haired, wide-grinned brother, the only one in her conservative family who unwaveringly supported her decision to be special. For him it was alright- he'd grow up to be the man of the house- and he didn't need to be her rock like he was. "I think he'll be around soon, because he's a prefect."

Winston made a face. "Ugh. Is he one of the really strict ones?" His eyes shone with prefect badges and broken rules and curse words shouted through a hallway of rampant children.

The witch opposite him frowned, and absentmindedly took a candy from his extended hand. It was green and fizzy. "No. Percy's actually very lax, if that's what you're worried about." As soon as the word slipped from her lips, she pressed a palm to her forehead; these English scholars wouldn't know what American words were hip, would they? "Sorry, lax means relaxed, like, cool."

"I know what lax means, Seraphina." She looked him straight in the eye at the use of her first name. "Oh." She bit into the candy he had handed her.

Oh! It took every bone in Seraphina's body to not screw up her face in complaint. Sourness raced over her tongue, gracing each taste bud a hundred times, and her cheeks ballooned slightly to keep the horrid thing off the sensitive muscle. "My God, what is this?" With a straight face she swallowed, and saw Winston staring at her.

"It's a Sonny Sour. The most sour sweet in pretty much the world." His eyes were wide. "You're the only other person I've met who can take it without going-" he made a terrifically ridiculous face.

She blushed again, smoothing down her black dress. This whole day had been a blur. In just two hours, she had driven to the train station, passed through a wall, boarded a secret train, met a rudely snobbish girl who commented on her hair, accidentally adopted a cat (she assumed), met a new friend, and tasted the world's most sour candy without making a face.

Seraphina had to admit, she loved the thrill of it all. "We're officially away from home," Winston said next to her.

Winston's voice was heavy and deep, she observed, and had the distinct air of someone who had hit puberty far too early. She rather liked it.

But just as he was about to say something in the squeaky baritone, there came a great clattering of wheels and clacking of hard shoes on the train's flooring. It sounded like the place where rust went to die was about to turn into their compartment.

The sound of rusty hinges sent a confused chill across her eyes. "What's that?" Asked Seraphina coolly, unwilling to show this boy weakness yet.

He ran a hand through his ebony hair and puffed out a breath of relief. "Oh, that?" She resisted the urge to strangle him for the careless way in which he spoke, no respect coloring his tone at all. "That's the trolley witch, a lady who sells sweets and snacks up and down the train. I've got my eye on a Monty Mink Mint Map, so keep an eye out."

At first, she thought he had gone mad. But the clarity of his words was proven with the arrival of a stout witch tugging a cart behind her, so loaded with candy that it looked near falling over. The trolley witch, presumably. Calling out candy brands to wizards across the aisles, she lumbered along with a friendly smile.

Seraphina gaped at the candyfloss-haired woman, as Winston dove towards the trolley witch his hand outstretched. Her travel companion was almost neck-deep in the pile by the time the witch smacked his hands away.

This display made her shudder. The boy had no manners. Although it was refreshing, she dusted off her velvety dress and scowled darkly at his backside. The way his dirty hands latched to fistfuls of candy like no one else wanted them? "You know, the candy isn't going anywhere."

Of course, the minute she said so, a chocolate frog burst free and hopped towards an open window, before leaping on creamy whipped legs into the unforgiving breeze. They both watched it crash into a tree and keep hopping, dazed, towards the horizon.

Winston turned to Seraphina (two dillypops in hand) and grinned. She mended her words, "Except for those."

This made the trolley witch laugh slightly as she looked towards Seraphina and asked in a singsong voice, "anything from the trolley, dear?"

Seraphina looked it over and ended up spending three Sickles on candy. Three Sickles! It was rather exciting to have spent so much on such frivolous things. But oh, did she love candy. Especially the magical kind- her parents never even let her eat the normal sweets you found in muggle convenience stores.

Bertie Bot's Every-Flavor Beans, chocolate frogs, toffees and dillypops... all found a home in the shared space between her and Winston. "All sweets are welcome," Winston had declared when she presented a handful of peppermints. "We don't discriminate here."

Seraphina finally got what all the fuss was about chocolate frogs when she bit into hers and felt the leg wriggle around in her mouth as it melted. Her hands raced along the gilded purple edge of the pentagonal box, and Winston urged her to open it and see which card she got. The card turned out to be Bathilda Bagshot.

Winston had four of those, and gave her a Dumbledore.

When she unbuttoned a button from her pleated charcoal dress, he blushed. At least he had some manners, she thought hopefully. But it was quite hot in here.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Seraphina asked brashly. Winston's blue eyes were dragging up and down her face, as if searching for something, and when she called him out, his ears turned hot pink. "Nothing."

He bit into a dillypop, eager to change the subject. "Say, you've got Muggles for parents, haven't you?"

Seraphina bristled. "So what?" Her voice was cutting, and Winston shrunk back.

"So, nothing. Just, a lot of people talk rubbish about Muggle borns. I heard a boy use some very nasty language in the compartment over there." His blue eyes were wide and earnest as he spoke. The inexplicably blonde witch decided he meant no harm. "It's alright. I'm used to it."

Looking determinedly out the window, she didn't tell him about the boys who used to chase her every day and make fun of her. Call her awful names.

"You gonna eat that, Seraphina?" Her new friend asked, oblivious, pointing to a safe-looking bean.

"No, you can have it... Winston." Once again, Seraphina tested his name on her tongue. In her eleven years, she hadn't had many friends- her father thought it was more proper to focus on schoolwork. So now, she quite liked how it rolled from her mouth like a foreign language. She didn't understand how she felt a connection so early in their relationship, but she liked it.

Winston's huge grin turned to jagged shock as he spit the bean into a napkin.

What had promised to be a delicious cotton-candy flavor had apparently backfired, and Seraphina was already giggling by the time he choked out, "Not... cotton-candy... God... urinal cake!" As he scrubbed his tongue, the witch in the clean black robes laughed harder than she ever had in her life.

 **Thanks for taking the time to read this! I was really intrigued by the female president persona, and decided that she deserved a story in her name. Please leave a review if you can, and have a nice day!**


	2. In Which Seraphina Attends Hogwarts

**Yeah! Chapter 2! Let's go! This is really just on here so that I can put something I wrote IN PUBLIC, so I don't really care about follows or favorites or reviews or whatever. I also know that literally no one in the entire universe would get this, but Professor Lendragon will be loosely based on Lady Lesso from SGE**.

-? ﾟﾍﾫ- In Which Seraphina Enters A Duel and Goes To Hogwarts

Winston kept her entertained for another hour or so, and they shared many jokes that would have made her father bring out the belt, but nothing gold can stay. As the scarlet engine snaked through a pair of blurry emerald mountains, Seraphina could hear a nasal, accented voice slipping through the crack in the door.

"Oh, no," she moaned, her perfect posture crumpling into despair. "It's that Lacey girl." She'd recognize that irritating Cockney lilt anywhere.

Winston grinned. "She got you too, then? The first-year duel thing?"

Seraphina nodded miserably. "I said I'd come, but only to get rid of that terribly annoying voi-"

A mess of blonde curls thrust into their compartment, framing blue eyes and a snobby, pointed nose. Lacey, as Seraphina had already guessed. Both witches looked one another up and down, straightening their ebony robes.

Lacey tilted her chin so she could look down on them both, sitting cross-legged in a pile of candy wrappers. "I said I'd remind you, dinnI?" She asked.

Winston gave her a kind smile. "We're coming. One second."

When Lacey popped back out into the corridor, they both sighed in relief. Something about her demeanor... it made Seraphina's skin crawl. But, determined to give the girl a second chance, she stood up and smoothed out her robes.

Changing had been a little awkward, but overall, it had bonded them both.

"Maybe it will be exciting," Winston suggested, standing up. "The duel, I mean." Seraphina rolled her eyes at him.

Looking down, the two magicians were buried in candy wrappers and books, hair askew and faces shining. Seraphina's face wrinkled up as she thought of her father, and what he would say if he saw her like this.

Winston misinterpreted her crushed expression, and tugged her from her thoughts. "Hey, don't worry. I bet she's all talk. I've lifted your duffel, I know how much you studied before you came here. We'll make mincemeat of them." His words soothed her all the same, and she let out an embarrassing giggle.

The compartment doors slithered open as they left, single file, filtering out into the hallway. Seraphina inhaled deeply. Then, she and this strange boy followed a thick stream of students to where they fanned into a large circle. In the center, Lacey waved her wand around feebly, looking like a conductor of a particularly offbeat orchestra.

Winston snickered, and Seraphina slapped his arm. She was a Picquery, and Picquery's made fun of people right go their face.

"Okay, who wants to go first?" Lacey drawled, twirling her hair around one finger. She had chAnged into her robes now, and blended in perfectly with the rows of to-be students.

"She must be mad," Winston was saying, gesturing wildly. "We're first years. We haven't even gone to school yet. Duels are where you make enemies!" However, as he was saying this, a freckled boy with gelled brown hair and a cocksure smile stepped forward into the circle.

The train wasn't quite wide wide enough to accommodate the first-years that had showed up, and Seraphina found herself pressed into the wall by a throng of murmuring girls with pink headbands and flowery pigtails. "Goodness," she whispered to Winston, "you'd think the president were here!"

Puzzled, Winston looked at her, and she quickly amended, "the Queen." He grinned at her.

Suddenly, a burst of light slipped between the two "dueling" students, a sickly blue color, and a discolored gray patch appeared on the carpeted wall. Almost instantly, it faded away and left the scarlet upholstery even more spotless than it had been before. A few people stared, but most laughed at the red-faced boy, who had fired the useless spell.

"I think that went wrong- never heard of a discoloration spell." Winston's face was serious. Seraphina eyed him, holding him in her dark gaze, appalled by how much he talked. He really did enjoy hearing his gums flap.

He caught her staring, and his ears returned to the classic bright pink. Did he think-?

Before she could explain, a jet of red light split from Lacey's wand, searing several sparks into the windowpane, and she yelled, "Expelliarmus!" To his dismay, the freckled boy's wand flew through the air. Disarmed, a lock of slicked back hair came loose and he cursed loudly.

Seraphina scowled, seeing the blonde, Cockney girl smirk as the boy scrambled for his wand. Seraphina recalled the text from "Duels Throughout History", and leaned close to Winston so he could hear her.

"So has she won then?" She asked, and Winston nodded sourly.

By the time the disarmed first-year straightened up, he was shoved into the crowd by a strong raven-haired girl with a wand of dark wood and a sweet smile. The next challenger, apparently. Her eyes were a peculiar violet, and they glinted.

Seraphina and Winston couldn't help but be interested by the following three duels. Most of the first-years didn't know a thing, but the next two knew just enough to keep Lacey on her toes. She'd scoff and sniff and sneer at them, but they would lower their eyes and continue.

It was all quite exciting to a Muggle-born. She could barely see her own hand for the crowds

Until, as the all realized they had very little time left of their train ride, Lacey scanned her audience. Passing over a disgruntled Winston, her blue eyes landed on Seraphina. She smirked. "Hey, you, with the turban." Winston's eyes flared, but Seraphina simply rolled hers, and asked coolly, "Yes?"

The blonde girl showed her big teeth. "Duel me." When the equally blonde witch opposite her seemed to falter, Lacey tried her hand at a kinder smile. "C'mon then, it'll be fun!"

Winston elbowed Seraphina in the ribs, and she frowned at him to convey her deep offense. He muttered, "Please, beat her..."

It was true. One could almost see Lacey's ego inflate when she won each odd little child duel. The freckled boy. A big pump. The raven-haired girl. Pump. The funny little gangly child. Pump. Again, the witch in the head wrap argued with herself to give this girl another chance beside the first impression, but her self-assured sneer seemed almost too much.

Seraphina scowled again, feeling very silly surrounded by people. She had always considered herself very good at public speaking, as she was very eloquent, but all she could manage was a rather huffy "Alright."

Lacey grinned like a child on Christmas and raised her holly wood wand. "On three, okay?"

Seraphina glanced back at Winston. Sure, she had practiced all day at home, but her father would go berserk if she was too loud, so it was mostly quiet, simple spells. Technically, this would be the first real spurt of magic since... since she had bought her wand from that queer Miss Beauvais.

"Two... one." Just as Seraphina's confidence swooped down into her stomach, Lacey furrowed her spidery brow and sent a finger of gold light from her wand tip. She said the spell as well, but Seraphina was too busy concentrating to hear her. Ducking under the weak blast, the toffee-skinned witch extended her wand.

Something queer happened.

As she lifted her wand, energy coursed through her veins. It rushed from the tips of her toes, which were buried in sensible, royal purple platform heels, to the ends of her fingernails, which were brushed over with the same shade. It lived and breathed. It pulsed.

Magic. She had read about this, in "Magical Spells and Hexes". But... that was impossible.

Before she could consider the feeling, purple light soared from the tip of her wand, perfectly targeting Lacey. The smug blonde witch's pink lipsticked mouth gaped open, her eyes filling with a strange rage before the spell sailed into her chest.

Lacey wasn't hurt at all, but when her stocky robed figure crashed into the crimson padded wall above the train door, she slumped to the floor in defeat as if dead. Several girls rushed to her side, but most of the first-years just stared at Seraphina in shock. When she whirled to Winston, her professional demeanor blinking out like a strained light bulb, Seraphina's dark eyes searched for answers.

She was met with an amazed grin. At least Winston was still her friend. And he looked impressed.

Seraphina whipped around. The gaggle of rose-scented girls were waved away by an angry Lacey, as she rose with curls of smoke flaking off her black robes. The witch, with her curly blonde hair, gestured at Seraphina in a very rude way. "How'd you do that? You're just a first year, Mudblood."

Winston's blue eyes went round as dinner plates, and Seraphina had to grab his arm to stop him from attacking her. Several first-years muttered, disgruntled, and fingered their wands in case of a magical altercation.

"You can't say that, Spears," Winston growled, pulling Seraphina close. The toffee-skinned girl's mouth opened in surprise- she had seen people who felt the need to express friendship through contact, but had never truly been held. It was strange, and she found herself facing Lacey with no foreseeable answers to her furious questions.

"I don't know how I did it," she whispered excitedly to Winston.

His eyes watched Lacey leave.

Seraphina knew that "mudblood" was a very nasty word indeed. But the way he reacted... it brought back old memories that she wouldn't care to revisit.

Then, he turned back to Seraphina. The light in his eyes clicked back on, like someone had turned a switch, as soon as Lacey left, and his voice bubbled with awe as he praised her. "That was amazing! But... you haven't even gone to school yet. Are you sure you didn't-"

"Positive." As always, her voice was clipped and succinct, and something about it made Winston release her from his embrace.

"I'm pretty sure that was a-" his hushed, amazed tone was cut short by Seraphina.

"Special spell, I know. I read about them in-"

"Magical Spells and Hexes!" They both chorused at the same time.

Seraphina and Winston looked up to see a group of dazed students-to-be staring at them as if they had two heads. One boy whispered excitedly to his friend, who had leaf-shaped glasses and a notepad, and was writing down everything he said. "Oops," Winston admitted sheepishly.

They stood in silence, watching the scorched, gold-gilt wall repair itself with airbrushed strokes of scarlet plush. Seraphina could only gape improperly. Her first day, not even her first day, and she had a reputation as the girl who slams other girls into walls with strange magic and gets insulted and hugged by weird boys in the same breath.

"Fantastic," she murmured.

Suddenly, the creaking of wheels and the whistling of an old woman pulled everyone from their thoughts, deftly slicing the tension in the air. The trolley witch lumbered into the train corridor, and began to ask, "Anything from the-"

She stopped short, eyes lifting to see the walls healing themselves, a crowd of students staring at one girl with a smoking wand, and the retreating glare of a blond girl who looked as snobbish as a toad. The gray-haired witch broke out into a wry smile. "Ah... winning duels already, are you? Not even your first day, eh?"

A few people nodded mutely, pocketing their wands, but Seraphina just stared at her shoes in embarrassment.

The trolley witch wheeled away, muttering, "Bad lot."

-?

After the dueling incident, Seraphina kept her head down for the rest of the train ride. She and Winston stayed rooted to their compartment, talking and joking with a surprising easiness. He knew how to speak troll, and for a while, they just garbled at each other in awful accents, in case they stumbled upon one this year.

However, the irritating cat that she had found in her duffel came back soon after their return, having exhausted the capabilities of the first-year portion of the train. It staggered into the compartment with cream on its whiskers and a gleam in its brown eyes.

She tried to shoo it away, but Winston would have none of it. "She's got nowhere else to go," he argued, stroking the appreciative cat's fur. "Besides, you don't have an animal yet, do you?"

This was true. Her parents hadn't wanted to look strange on the platform, and so they had refused to buy her any sort of pet to take with her. But this cat... it had stowed away in her suitcase, and now it expected her protection? Seraphina protested as best she could. But for the first time in her life, she had met someone just as stubborn and argumentative as she was.

Winston widened his cerulean eyes to match those of the feline, and took up a horrible chorus of meows that sounded like a snorkack being strangled, until Seraphina's ears begged foe mercy. "Fine, she can stay."

Winston cheered, and guided his friend's hand to the cat's flank. "Let's name her Chocolate. Coco for short."

"You truly are a hapless idiot."

"Thanks."

Of course, after a while, the scenery outside the window became interesting- melting into a soaring landscape of mountains, valleys, rivers, and a navy-blue sky that was the exact color of a particularly itchy dress that Seraphina had once worn to a gala, except studded with millions of brilliant stars.

Hungry but happy, she smiled up at it while Winston played the kazoo, and finally asked the childish question that had been looming in her mind.

"Are we there yet?" She intoned, and winced.

Winston giggled. Maybe boys weren't supposed to giggle, but Winston definitely did.

"Yeah, actually, it's only a couple more minutes." His face was impassive, even as Seraphina's cheeks ballooned red. "What?!" She shrieked, pressing her face against the window in hopes of catching a glimpse of the majestic castle.

Despite her collected demeanor, Seraphina had been yearning to see Hogwarts. After all, this was the beginning of her life. This was her home for the next eight years.

So far, there was nothing. Only the whisper of a shadow over the grassy hill. She slunk into her seat in impatience, knowing that it had never been one of her strong suits. The cat jumped up onto her lap uncalled, sensing her melancholy, and she sighed.

Slowly, making sure Winston was looking away, she stroked its silky black fur.

"Have you seen it before?" She asked, scratching behind the elegant shell-shaped ears. "Hogwarts?" Seraphina had yearned to, but her mother firmly believed that excitement was the devil in disguise, and never allowed her so much as a photo.

"I've seen pictures," Winston replied. His voice was wistful and filled with longing. "It's amazing. My brothers say it's even better in person." Seraphina leaned away from the window and met his eyes with her own, suddenly consumed by a desire to ask him all her questions. She was lucky she had befriended a boy who had all the answers.

Scolding herself for the smallest stutter, she queried, "So... what house do you think you will be in?" She didn't tell him that she had no hopes or opinions on the houses. After all, each one had impeccable qualities. Winston, however, appeared to be full to bursting with thoughts. "Oh, my whole family's been in Horned Serpent, which has a bit of a reputation for being too much like Slytherin, who were a rather bad lot, and I bet Horace (that's my younger brother) two sickles that I'd get in with them."

He took a breath. As always, his quick jabber had made Seraphina begin to stare. "How about you? You haven't got any ties to anything, have you? Seeing your parents were..." his sentence trailed off, and his face darkened. "Sorry."

Seraphina smiled at him, breaking her professional facade yet again. "It's alright. After all, you're right. I don't even know what house I want."

Her hands came up, unbidden, to stroke the pale curls of hair that lay on her cheekbones. She had to stop doing that.

Winston noticed, and reached forward. "Can I?" He deftly changed the subject, instantly making her uncomfortable.

She looked at him, suddenly protective and embarrassed of her odd hair. He obviously didn't realize how rude he was being, so Seraphina decided to let it slip. "That's rude, where I come from," she said, guiding his hand to her hair, "but you don't know any better."

Winston turned scarlet, matching the train perfectly. "Oh, sorry. I just like it."

She let herself smile again. Something about his demeanor made it impossible to stay angry at him. His voice, maybe. That post-pubescent, innocent baritone.

They sat in silence after that, the cat between them.

She really was a beautiful cat, thought Seraphina grudgingly. Those big eyes, that resembled her own just enough. The soft fur.

The train wheels were starting to bump and roll jaggedly over the uneven terrain, and the blood-red steam engine was letting out puffs of smoke as it went, as if it was getting tired with every mile. They had been on it for hours, and the excitement was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Winston, however, seemed to have a terrible case of motion sickness. "Oh God..." he groaned, curling his fingers around the softness of his stomach. "Seraphina... get me a bin."

She giggled again. Giggled. "I will do no such thing. You can hold it."

In all actuality, Winston Maribell could not hold it. But he was beginning to develop quite a crush on his new friend Seraphina, so he puffed out his chest and sat stoically as the train rumbled onwards.

Seraphina was the one who saw it first. It was quite late, and the only light was the pale face of a waxing moon, and a night sky littered with stars.

She had her face pressed against the window, and suddenly gasped as she saw the tip of a turret growing from behind the mountains. "I see it! Winston, wake up!"

(He was not sleeping. He was vomiting into a plastic bag he had found under his seat.)

But his head popped up, hair a mess, and he sucked in a breath. All sickness evaporated. "Wow..."

Hogwarts.

Turrets towered above the silent mountains, dotted with hundreds of candlelit windows that looked down over a vast lake. The building itself was a steely gray-brown, rustic, like the castles Seraphina had drawn when she was a child.

It was beautiful. Shingled eaves that creaked in the night air, and enormous towers that were absolutely aglow with golden light. Seraphina's eyes widened.

Hundreds of owls filtered out of the top of one of the turrets in an earthy-colored flurry. All of them held fat envelopes and packages in their beaks. "They must be sending all the letters," Winston murmured, awestruck.

The train slipped like a poisonous snake through the hills, everyone falling silent as each first-year caught a glimpse of their new home.

Ebony wheels stopped turning abruptly, and the scarlet engine squeaked to a halt.

"We're here..." Seraphina whispered, feeling the wind curl inwards from the train. It was magnificent. It was beautiful.

It smelled like vomit.

"Oh, throw that away you weak-stomached pureblood!" She teased, and Winston went pink before tossing his bag out the window. Seraphina looked away from the wet squelching noise it made.

"Whatever." He replied, taking hold of her arm. His fingers were taut against her bicep. She looked up.

Winston grinned. "Come on! We have to get on the boats!"

Her whole body bubbled with excitement as Winston goose-stepped to the open door. Seraphina held out her hand to let him go first, and he thought her very polite, but the truth was that she didn't want him to hear her call, "Come here, Coco! Get in my bag!"

Once the cat was secured, she followed her friend out into a stampede of first-years.

The boat ride, of course, was incredible. They glided over a smooth lake, leaving ripples in the glassy surface. The water was black as the sky, and Winston trailed his hands in it as they were rowed across. Stars left white kisses in the depths.

The boat swayed with the breeze, turning a few students green. But Seraphina had an iron stomach. She could only grin.

The soft sliding of the wooden boats through the water was so soothing that she almost fell asleep in Winston's arms, like a silly teenaged girl. But then, the ride was over, and the sanded-smooth bottom scraped the shore. They were at Hogwarts.

She blinked her eyes, refusing to let her stomach growl. Everything was so much more impressive when she was up close and personal, the lights blinding her, the warmth from inside the castle caressing her skin.

She had never been so nervous in her entire life.

Winston grabbed her hand as he exited, blushing from his nose to his neck, and tugged her behind him. She'd left her bag on the train to be delivered to her room. Seraphina followed him, realizing absentmindedly that he was probably her best friend at that moment in time, and was greeted by a looming oak door on golden hinges.

The first-years, gathered in a tight clump, tittered excitedly, waiting for someone to greet them. Seraphina and Winston looked at each other. Before they could even comprehend what was happening, the door swung open.

Beneath the archway, a woman stood, and she was nearly more intimidating than Seraphina Picquery herself. The professor wore a long navy cloak, with glittering silver stars stitched into the hem. She had black hair in a loose bun, and cutting green eyes. "Hello, new students," she said coolly, sweeping her robes to the side. "Please come inside."

Needless to say, the first-years followed her silently into the great hall.

In the main section, enormous carvings of each house- Horned Serpent, Panther Wampus, Thunderbird and Pukwudgie- stood impassive around them. They were very impressive, looming Seraphina gasped and grabbed Winston's arm. On a circular balcony overhead, all the old students watched them look around in amazement, pointing at the houses they would choose for each. "I feel like a zoo exhibit," Winston commented, and then looked into Seraphina's wide, dark eyes. "You ready to be sorted?"

She considered it, and then nodded.

The imposing woman in the navy cloak that had greeted them introduced herself as Professor Lendragon, head of the Horned Serpent house. Then, looking into the scared eyes of each first-year, she explained the sorting process.

Seraphina had already read about it. If a house wanted you in its ranks, its carving on the wall would signify it, and you would be escorted up the stairs to your housemates. Anxiety spilled into her veins as she watched Professor Lendragon call the first student from a scroll: "Aniston, Lilith!" Her voice was cutting.

Seraphina watched in abject terror, unable to let her feelings show in front of so many people, as more students were called.

She started to develop a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, and suddenly the memory of the Special Spell on the train rushed back.

What if her magic was broken? After all, she was only a first-year, and it was almost impossible to perform a Special Spell that early. What if something was wrong with her?

Her mind whirled, as the next student, "Kingston, Terry" was declared a Wampus, and jogged up the steps to the cheering second years.

What if no house wanted her at all? Percy said her magic was very powerful, but what if he was lying?

Suddenly, Professor Pendragon's sharp voice cut through her thoughts.

Winston's name. She was saying Winston's name. Seraphina felt her jet-black haired friend letting go of her shoulder, and he was gone.

Touching the two white-blonde curls on her face and straightening her head wrap, Seraphina watched him bounce over to the center of the room.

He stood on the symbol of the Gordian Knot. As always, he rocked side to side while he waited, moving from the balls of his feet to his heels. She locked eyes with him, and he smiled. Her muscles eased into a relaxed state.

Suddenly, the Gordian Knot symbol etched into the floor glowed white, just like with the others. Winston looked around at the carvings, waiting for one of them to claim him.

The Thunderbird's eyes lit up with golden light. Winston went pale, and Seraphina looked over a short first-year to see him whirl around, frantically hoping another house would claim him-

His blue eyes were shot through with relief, and then bathed in purple light.

The Horned Serpent had a jewel set into its head, and it had burst into life just at the right second. Seraphina visibly relaxed. She was happy that Winston had gotten his wish. The boy stood straight, trying to gain a few inches, and announced to the great hall: "I choose Horned Serpent."

The left corner of the circular balcony above erupted in cheers.

That's when Seraphina realized that there was no student whose last name began with N. Or... O.

"Picquery, Seraphina," Professor Lendragon called clearly.

Seraphina broke into a cold sweat. Her fears raced to culmination in her mind as she walked carefully towards the Gordian Knot. Of course, no one could possibly tell she was nervous, as she kept a straight face the whole time, but it felt like a Wampus was eating her insides.

She stood straight and waited.

Whispers flooded in.

*Oh, yes, very powerful indeed, this one...* a slithering voice murmured in her ear. Shocked, Seraphina opened her eyes, but no one seemed to have heard it. A wise-sounding tone sounded in her other ear, *And pure of soul as well.*

The voices slid over one another, apologizing and making room in her head.

*She would make a fine addition...*

*I see great potential here...*

*Yes, yes...*

Suddenly, it seemed as thought everything stopped. The whispers vanished. And as Seraphina opened her eyes cautiously, the carvings came alive. The Horned Serpent was the first, letting its jewel come alive with deep purple light. It bathed her skin, cool and wonderful. She grinned.

I'm normal after all, she reassured herself.

Then, the Thunderbird flapped its wings, symbolic of its choice. Two houses. Pride flooded her core.

And then the Wampus roared. The impressive panther carving opened its jaws very wide and roared at her. Seraphina's eyes scoured the balcony for Winston, and found him smiling down at her like an angel. "Three!" He mouthed silently.

But his pale face soon melted into awe as the Pukwudgie carving began to glow as well. Slowly, it stretched its muscles... and raised its arrow in the air.

The faculty around Seraphina erupted in cheers. Her eyebrows nearly popped off her face, her toffee skin draining of color, like someone had pulled a plug. She knew that being picked for all four houses was incredibly rare... only around once a decade was such an honor bestowed upon a student.

The head of the Horned Serpent house, Professor Lendragon, stepped forward. "Miss Picquery." She was vaguely impressed, Seraphina could hear it in her voice. "Which house will you be joining today?"

Seraphina opened her mouth. There had to be a mistake. This was all happening much too fast. She looked down at her wand- swamp wood with a huge purple crystal fixed to the end. It seemed to twinkle back.

What did she want? She thought of the houses. She thought of Winston. Horned Serpent was for scholars, those who seek wisdom and understanding.

Her heart beat slower and slower.

"I choose Horned Serpent." Her voice was calm, cool, and made several people instantly admire her.

Winston cheered the loudest of anybody, and this time, Seraphina didn't shrink away from his hug at all. She was ready.

After every other first-year was sorted, finally she slid from her friend's embrace, thanking him for hiding her from her overenthusiastic housemates. "Now let's eat!" Called the headmaster, a silver-haired man by the name of Dinwiggle.


End file.
